Ever wondered what’s that one thing that compels your customers to come back to you?

With so many options available at a single click, loyal customers are the ones who keep your business thriving. 

But what does it take to build loyal customers? Let’s find out!

What is Customer Loyalty?

In most simple terms, customer loyalty is a positive customer-company relationship that lasts for years. Customers show their loyalty by choosing their preferred company’s products and services over competitors’. 

77% of customers have maintained loyal relationships with their preferred companies for 10 or more years.

Inmoment

Customers who build an emotional bond with a company and keep doing business with them are termed as loyal customers. They aren’t easy for other companies to acquire because they’re already comfortable in doing business with you. They would rather pay more for the services you provide because they want the same quality service they’ve loved. 

Why is Customer Loyalty important?

In today’s business landscape, customer loyalty is extremely important as it’s the only thing that enables you to retain customers. There is no business if there are no customers! Here are the five reasons why we think customer loyalty is so important:

1. It’s lighter on the pocket

For most of us, acquiring new customers is a satisfying yet rewarding experience but it involves a lot of effort and resources. It’s definitely expensive because acquisition costs a lot. It includes advertising costs, the salary of marketing employees, sales costs etc. 

Did you know that acquiring new customers costs five times more than retaining existing ones?

Forbes

Retention costs include money spent to achieve higher customer satisfaction levels that translate into brand loyalty. These include overhead expenses like returns, faster deliveries, reward points etc. These do not cost a lot but bring higher returns by building a longlasting profitable relationship.

2. It improves brand image

One of the best reasons to build customer loyalty is that it improves your positioning in the market quite significantly. 

Having a high number of loyal customers mean your products and services are consistent in quality and that you’ll stay in the competitive market for a longer time. Loyal customers will always give you positive reviews because they’re super satisfied with the treatment they receive from you. They also refer you in their circle through positive word-of-mouth. Positive reviews along with high referrals contribute to your improved brand image. 

3. Helps in future acquisition

Improved brand image greatly assists companies in acquisition efforts. Nowadays people look for other reviews before making a purchase decision. They are greatly interested to know what do their peers have to say about their own experience with a brand. With a high number of positive sentiments in and around your brand, new customers will trust you quite easily. 

On the flip side, if companies don’t have positive reviews or referrals, potential customers lose the interest to shop with them. 

Let’s be true to ourselves: Who buys from a brand who doesn’t have customers who promote them?

4. Higher chances of up and cross-selling

Again, it’s often much easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to sell to a new one. The purchase barriers in case of existing customers have already been overcome which means only a slight push will make them do business with you again. 

Loyal customers already trust you and your products. They are super satisfied with the experience you provided them with previously and as a result, they wouldn’t think twice before paying for an upgrade or simply trying something new. 

5. More customers = more profit

Bain & Company believes that most businesses need to retain customers for at least a year and a half to break-even the cost of acquisition. The concept of customer loyalty isn’t only a fancy idea but its crucial to keep the business running. 

McKinsey found that repeat e-commerce customers spend more than double what new customers spend. Also, we just established how the prospects of up-selling and cross-selling increase; meaning a higher revenue. 

The crux is, a slight focus on customer loyalty results in higher profits and overall company success.

Ways to Strengthen Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty isn’t as hard to build as it seems. It only takes a few sincere efforts in the right direction. 

Customers associate their loyalty towards brands who truly care about their experience. Meeting and exceeding customer expectations is that one key which opens the doors of loyalty for any brand. Here we have compiled the top five proven ways to build and strengthen customer loyalty.

1. Ramp up your CX

Excellent customer experience goes a long way in the buyer journey. It amalgamates the physical and emotional value elements of consumers for them to perceive a unified experience that translates into loyalty. 

Customer experience is one thing that can truly differentiate you from your competitors. Since customer loyalty means to prefer one company over another, CX exactly helps you achieve that. Excellent customer experience means meeting and exceeding customer expectations in such a way that leaves them wanting for more. 

It’s the most cost-effective way to drive customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty. Good customer experiences don’t end after the purchase, it’s an everlasting experience that customers cherish all their lives. 

Here are some cool ways to ramp-up your CX

2. Communicate regularly

Through regular communication with customers, you will be able to get a better understanding of them. To gain customer loyalty, you must make them feel valued and show them your commitment. 

Excellent communication skill is one of the crucial customer service skills to have. Good customer service requires that you listen to your customers’ needs and then meet them. 

Regular communication puts your customers at peace because they know contacting you is seamless in case something goes wrong. They know you’ll be there to make up for a bad experience. This garners loyalty into customers and they become willing to spend more on your product or service. 

Apple builds loyalty through regular communication. Here’s a sneak peek how:

“Apple communicates to its customers based on what they care about. They understand that the experience is what matters, not megabytes. Their marketing attention to detail sets them apart and just like their sleek simplified designs they keep their message simple and relatable, which gets people talking.” 

3. Measure loyalty

Measurement makes management easier. Customer satisfaction metrics like NPS, CSAT and CES are most commonly used to measure loyalty.

NPS gives you an idea of how many of your customers are willing to recommend you to others. Of course, only those customers will recommend you who themselves are super satisfied with your brand and will continue to buy from you. 

Similarly, CSAT and CES give you ample insights about the problems faced by your customers in their journey so you can remove them in real-time to keep delivering positive customer experiences. 

Changes in the customer satisfaction metrics give a clear view of how your customer loyalty is trending. For example, an increase in NPS is a positive sign, whereas an increase in CES is a red flag. 

This allows you to use customer feedback to track the changes that you make to your loyalty program. It also helps you make informed decisions quickly and efficiently.

4. Understand the customer journey

Loyalty comes when you truly care about your customers. The first step is to understand the customer journey and the major touch points that play a crucial role in the overall CX. 

Conventionally, businesses measure success in terms of sales. But as we begin to ponder deeper, we understand that each sale is a part of the bigger picture – the customer journey. 

This includes your marketing, customer reviews, retail experience (online & offline), and the support program. Together, all these touchpoints are perceived by the customer as a unified experience which greatly influences the customer loyalty. 

By considering the customer journey, you can target your improvements on the places they’ll have the most effect. 

5. Take regular customer feedback

If you want to build customer loyalty, you need to listen to your customers and make sure they feel heard from the very beginning of their journey with your brand. When you take customer feedback regularly and use it to drive improvements, the customers are most likely to have a positive emotion towards you. 

Taking feedback is one thing but what’s more powerful in building customer loyalty is what you do with it. Your customers share their experience with you so that you can be in touch with them and close the loop by implementing the feedback. 

Customers who feel listened to and looked after when something goes wrong increases their satisfaction with your brand and then follows brand loyalty. Regular communication with customers makes sure they don’t forget you and encourages them to be associated with you forever. 

Conclusion

Building customer loyalty is as important as acquiring new customers for your business. By making customers loyal, you make them speak on your behalf which greatly helps you improve brand image and market share. Not only do loyal customers keep making repeated purchases , but they are also more likely to try out new products, refer others and help create a positive word-of-mouth for your brand. 

Excellent customer experiences drive customer loyalty because everybody wants to have that extra-special treatment from their preferred brands. This goes alongside understanding the customer journey which helps you identify the key touchpoints that matter the most in the buyer journey. 

Taking regular feedback is crucial for making customers feel heard and valued. It ensures them that their individual experience matters to you and that you would do anything to satisfy them even more. Taking feedback is also a way to ensure regular communication. 

Customer satisfaction metrics like NPS and CSAT give you a measure of customer loyalty which again becomes very handy in making changes that would satisfy customers more and drive customer loyalty.

Here’s how GroHawk can help!

GroHawk is your one-stop solution to strengthen customer loyalty. We provide you insights driven by customer feedback that nurtures your relationship with customers. With GroHawk, you can track and measure customer satisfaction – the most important prerequisite for customer loyalty!

So stop thinking and start doing. Book a free demo now!